The NPC gym ladder is the structured Pokémon journey on PBG — eight themed leaders in a fixed order, then a five-fight Royal League gauntlet (four Elites plus Champion Leon), then unlimited rematches at three difficulty tiers. The whole chain lives inside the Zenith Region.
This page is the dedicated battle-progression reference. For the region's geography, lore NPCs, and town warps, see The Zenith Region. For community-run player gyms (a separate system), see Gym System.
How to start
Talk to the Gym Guide at spawn. They open a hub menu that covers both NPC gyms and player gyms, and explain the rematch cooldowns. Or open /warps → Zenith → Cragvale to head straight to the first gym town.
The eight gym leaders
Gym leaders must be beaten in order — clear gym N before gym N+1 unlocks. Each gym enforces a hard level cap; over-levelled parties are refused at the door.
| # | Town | Gym | Leader | Type | Level cap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cragvale | Cragvale Forge | Roark | Fire / Rock | 18 |
| 2 | Honeywood | Honeycomb Arena | Vivienne | Bug / Flying | 22 |
| 3 | Frosthold | Winterkeep Hall | Iceland | Ice / Steel | 26 |
| 4 | Luxura | Azure Bay | Marina | Normal / Water | 30 |
| 5 | Aetheria | Aether Spire | Sage Verity | Grass / Psychic | 34 |
| 6 | Tenebros | Obsidian Court | Marcus (Shadow) | Dark / Poison | 38 |
| 7 | Dustbowl | Copper Canyon | Cole (Roughneck) | Ground / Fighting | 42 |
| 8 | Skyward | Apex Crater | Iris | Dragon / Electric | 50 |
Each leader's badge sets the gym's completion flag and opens the next town's warp.
The Royal League
After beating Iris in gym 8, find the Blissey League Registrar to enter the Royal League gauntlet. The four Elites must be cleared in order; beating Sentinel unlocks Champion Leon.
| # | Trainer | Title |
|---|---|---|
| Elite 1 | Flora | The Gardener |
| Elite 2 | Inferno | The Reborn |
| Elite 3 | Tidecaller | The Current |
| Elite 4 | Sentinel | The Knight |
| Champion | Leon | — |
Beating Leon for the first time sets royal_champion_done and opens the rematch ladder across every gym and every Royal League member. It also unlocks the Royal League warp in /warps so you can return any time.
The rematch ladder
The rematch ladder unlocks after your first Champion clear. Every gym leader, every Elite, and Leon himself can be re-fought at three difficulty tiers, in order: clear Easy on a given trainer before Medium opens; clear Medium before Hard. Cooldowns are per-trainer, per-tier.
| Tier | Cooldown | What changes |
|---|---|---|
| Easy | 1 hour | Slightly upgraded team, easier AI |
| Medium | 3 hours | Five-mon team, choice items, real coverage |
| Hard | 6 hours | Six-mon team, Mega/Tera holders, boss-tier AI |
Mastery rewards
Two parallel quest tracks watch the rematch ladder and pay out as you clear tiers across every leader:
- Zenith Mastery — rematch all 8 gym leaders across Easy / Medium / Hard
- Royal Mastery — rematch all 5 Royal League members across Easy / Medium / Hard
Tier gating is global: clear both Zenith Easy and Royal Easy before either Medium opens; same for Medium → Hard. Royal Hard is a single sequential gauntlet — lose any leg and the whole Hard run resets.
Capstones: Charizardite Y + ₽10,000 for clearing Zenith Hard, Choice Specs + ₽25,000 for the Royal Hard gauntlet.
See Quests for the full Mastery quest breakdown and Gym Mastery for the per-leader rematch rewards table.
Ranked, gimmicks, and other notes
The rematch hard tier uses Mega Evolution and Terastallization on its Pokémon. Player-side rules vary by battle context — see Ranked for what's allowed in competitive play (Mega is on; Tera, Dynamax, and Z-Moves are banned).
See also
- The Zenith Region — region overview, towns, warps, and lore
- Gym System — community-run player gyms
- Quests — Zenith Mastery + Royal Mastery quest tracks
- Gym Mastery — per-leader rematch reward table
- Ranked — competitive ladder rules